If people tuned out Conan's Tonight Show because they felt alienated by how self-depreciating and mocking his sense of humor was, I don't even want to know how they'll react to a guy who can't even tell a joke properly.

Mentat:If only NBC had nurtured someone to take over the Tonight Show who attracted a younger demographic...

NBC wants The Tonight Show to attract the older demographic and Late Night to attract the younger viewers.

TheJoe03:Say what you will about Fallon, but the fact the he got the legendary Roots crew to be his band is amazing and makes the show worth watching.

Don't know that NBC will keep them on The Tonight Show as they might scare Grandma and Grandpa. Also depends on if Fallon stays in New York or moves out to L.A. Moving to L.A. changes more than just the timeslot.

bluorangefyre:/and if anybody says Craig Ferguson is the funniest man is late night needs their head examined

I wouldn't go that far, and he'll certainly never take over for Letterman (way too much of an oddball), but he really understands the late night game and enjoys turning it on its head. Too much so to take an 11:35 slot.

StrikitRich:Mentat: If only NBC had nurtured someone to take over the Tonight Show who attracted a younger demographic...

NBC wants The Tonight Show to attract the older demographic and Late Night to attract the younger viewers.

TheJoe03: Say what you will about Fallon, but the fact the he got the legendary Roots crew to be his band is amazing and makes the show worth watching.

Don't know that NBC will keep them on The Tonight Show as they might scare Grandma and Grandpa. Also depends on if Fallon stays in New York or moves out to L.A. Moving to L.A. changes more than just the timeslot.

GreatGlavinsGhost * * Smartest * Funniest 2013-03-03 12:16:06 AM I don't think anyone is surprised by this after what Leno did to Conan. Fallon is more like Leno than Coco is anyways.========================================================

He was forcibly retired against his will, threatened to take his services elsewhere, NBC put him back in charge of their own volition. NBC is the bad guy in this equation, not Leno.

Plus, Conan ends up with a GIANT paycheck to do nothing for 6 months and then gets another mega deal with TBS. He certainly didn't end up on the short straw of anything other than the 'history' of the tonight show.

I'm not crazy about Fallon, but in my opinion, he's a much better writer than he is a performer. Some of his bits are quite entertaining. The problem (at least for me) is that it's painful to watch him perform because he thinks he's so damn funny. He needs to quit laughing at his own jokes.

I'm a huge fan of Craig Ferguson, and I love the utter strangeness of his show. It's something that wouldn't work well any earlier, and I'd prefer him to stay where he is. He can get away with a lot more as a late, late show than if he had Letterman's timeslot. It's not for everyone, but at that time it doesn't have to be.

I also think Jimmy Fallon has never been better than as a late-night host. The bit when he performed 'Call Me Maybe' with toy instruments is still one of my favorite things he's ever done. Now it doesn't matter if he laughs during a sketch, it's late night, so that makes it funny. (Carson would do the same thing and we'd revere him for it.)

I never thought I would like Jimmy Kimmel, but he's definitely grown on me. I'm still amazed he pulled off his Ben Afflek video, and the episode when Matt Damon took over his show (and retitled it 'Jimmy Kimmel Sucks') was brilliant.

And that's just network. Throw in basic cable and there is just too much late-night to manage. And that's a good thing.

Dawg47:Maybe the fact he only has to come up with one show a week increases the quality of said show.

I think part of it is they don't spend the time trying to come up with a 10 minute monologue every show. Then bringing on all the guests at once lets the show go in so many strange and different directions. American chat shows are boring in that pretty much every guest is asked the same questions, in the same order then comes up with a mildly amusing anecdote, then they go away to be replaced by someone else.

And poor Conan. Got screwed royally by NBC, and it pretty much stunted his career. His TBS show is just not that good. He looks like he's uninterested and just going through the motions. It's really too bad, because he was probably my favorite late night host for many years.